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earthquake has rattled southern krak california. the usgs says it just struck west of los angeles shortly after 8:00 a.m. pacific time. this is a look at downtown los angeles right now. want to let you know, there wasn't any particular swaying in downtown. i actually called my parents who live not too far. they did not feel it. we have some reports of some slight damage in the san bernardino area. that's san bernardino county, which would encompass the rancho kukamanga area. u.s. counterterror officials say that al zar -- mike viqueira

is with us. >> reporter: core al qaeda no longer exists in its previous state, this after all the drone attacks and after all the operations not the least of which was the raid one year ago next wednesday on that compound outside the pakistani capital that ended up with the killing of osama bin laden. the code words came over, leon panetta, defense secretary, was describing being in the situation room that night when these navy s.e.a.l.s radioed back, killed in action. basically over the course of th of officials of the government both on the record and on background saying that al qaeda s is zeroly diminished. you mentioned ayman al zawahiri there.

by the judgment of u.s. officials, he's not been able to bring al qaeda back into a cohesive unit. there are threats of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, an emerging threat. but still not capable in the judgment of many officials in the united states government of carrying out on attack on u.s. soil. jay carney last week says the president got a briefing. and while al qaeda still wants to inflict mass casualties on the united states, they judge they will not be able to do so around the time of the anniversary as al qaeda terrorists had hoped next wednesday. >> that's good news. thank you very much, mike viqueira. the secret service is taking action to prevent any future scandals on presidential trips. new rules have just been issued for agents that strict their contact with foreigners while traveling with the president. the employees are prohibited from drinking excessively, visiting irreputable

establishments or bringing people to their hotel room. and president obama is launching attack ads on republicans on women issues. last night, the president singled out the virginia governor for a new law that requires women to undergo an ultrasound procedure before having an abortion. he also attacked another gop state leader. >> they're forming women to get ultrasounds even if they don't want one. if you don't like it, the governor of pennsylvania said you could close your eyes. that's a quote. it's appalling. it's offensive, it's out of touch. >> mitt romney met with college students in the battleground state of ohio friday following president obama's visits to universities in other key states. mitt romney talked politics and the economy. >> words are easily malleable. but facts are stubborn.

and so i'd suggest that in the campaign ahead and in the campaigns of various officers running for various positions ahead, that you consider not just the brilliance of their words but also the facts of their record and what they've done. and that will be the best predictor, i believe, of what they'll do going forward. >> president obama goes into full campaign next week. next saturday he officially kicks off his reelection campaign joining me now, casey hunt and white house reporter for "the washington post," david nakamura. david, yi want to talk to you about these new rules for the secret service. more seems to be coming out on it. is it -- is this it? do you think there's more to come? >> i think there's more to come.

they've disciplined 12 of the guys who were allegedly involved in this nine who got dismissed from the agency. yesterday you saw the new rules come ut. but i think it's just a start. i know the agency has said they have not found any evidence of other similar kinds of behavior but they are continuing to investigate, they're interviewing dozens more people. frankly now that the gates have opened on this, we're getting calls continually about things to look into. unfortunately for the agency, this is going to keep going. while these rules -- there's going to be a lot more to come. congress wants to see the full results of this investigation. >> anything you want to share about your reporting right here? >> well, not just yet. we don't want to get ahead of ourselves either. but we are looking as a newspaper into other things, not only allegations but kind of

also where were the rules? they've codified some of the rules. i talked to a former agent who said a lot of these rules were just sort of unspoken. comport yourself well. >> with you, casey, it's change gears. almost a year since osama bin laden was killed. and the obama camp has released a new video featuring president clinton praising this president's handling of the situation. >> he took the harder and the more honorable path and the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result. >> so foreign policy and national security have traditionally been gop strongholds. do you think this democratic president's successes in this area neutralize that is issue, both of them? >> well, it's one of the reasons you're seeing mitt romney be aggressive in other foreign policy areas. when obama was caught on that hot mike talking to the rugs

leader, mitt romney wrote an op ed in foreign policy. i've been traveling with mitt romney. the one thing republican primary voters give credit to the president for is for getting bin laden. president obama obviously recognizes this is a big winner. they've said the obama administration means that general motors is alive and osama bin laden is dead. and they're also opening up the situation room this week in advance of the anniversary of his killing to allow nbc news in to interview all of their national security officials and talk through what happened. so the white house clearly understands what an advantage this is for them. >> david, we have karl rove's american crossroads which released this new ad --

♪ >> as you know, republicans used this attack four years ago. there was the ad featuring paris hilton and britney spears. why do you think the gop is thinking this is going to work now? >> president obama was a new entity, people wanted to know about him. his campaign introduced him in a way that made him more like a real person. this time, he has a record to run on. i think the gop -- right now, mitt romney is probably trailing obama when it comes to likability. you see in the polls that's one thing, the president's personal approval stands high. i think what the romney campaign and the gop is saying is we'll give you that. you're a likable guy. but that's not enough. people are feeling the pinch. are you better off now than they were before. i think they're going to try to stick the president with that. >> john boehner blasted president obama this week for

visiting three swing states and talked about the student loans. yesterday, he took to the floor of the house on that student loan bill and here's what he said. >> people want to politicize this because it's an election year. but do we have to fight about everything? and now we're going to have a fight over women's health. give me a break! >> what's the truth here, casey, who's mrpoliticizing everything? >> everyone is politicizing everything. the republican budget did not, in fact, assume that the student loan rates would be cut. republicans were stuck in this corner where they had to decide suddenly what they were going to do, whether to support it or not. and mitt romney's folks clearly didn't want to let obama score those points with the young voters that are going to be critical to him getting reelected. they were talking to republicans on the hill and the house republicans had to decide whether or not they were going

to allow the democrats to win on this issue or whether they were going to fight with their presumptive nominee. the obama administration was putting them in a difficult place here. >> i'm curious how you see this playing out. do you think by july student interest on loans is going to double? >> it's going to be a question of whether or not -- as he was referring to women's health. now the fight in congress is over exactly how to pay for this. it costs about $6 billion to cut these rates in half. it's going to be an interesting challenge. we've seen a ton of gridlock through the congressional sessions. whether or not they can get through that in the name of trying to work through a political issue just remains to be seen. >> casey and david, thank you so much to you both. >> thanks. tomorrow, "meet the press," senior strategist from both campaigns will be david grego gregory's guests. a new battle is brewing

between the family of george zimmerman and the parents of trayvon martin. the family wants the court to evoke zimmerman's bond because he claimed not to have enough money. his attorney called it an oversight. but trayvon's family wants the court to take action. >> we believe that george zimmerman not only deceived the parents of trayvon martin, he also deceived the court and that the court should revoke his bond. the family wants the court to revoke his bond and remand him to custody. >> alexis stodghill is joining me now. can you break down this dispute? >> yes, basically when zimmerman's band was set -- he presented to the court a picture of himself as being completely indigent, as though he and his family had nothing. it turned out that actually his website had taken in over $200,000 a mere three days after he had been released from jail.

his attorney, mark o'mara, claims he didn't even know that zimmerman had this money. and that is why crump is saying that he might have intentionally misled the courts. >> well, you have to think perjury. is that something that could come, charges of perjury against george zimmerman as a result of this? >> definitely a charge of perjury. but if it is found that he misled the court through omission and obscuring facts, it will definitely make him look like he can't be trusd when he is put on trial and it will make o'mara difficult to defend him with second-degree murder. >> there's a big town hall being held in central florida tonight? >> yes, it will be held at the a.m.e. -- i forget the name of the church exactly. but it's in sanford. and basically people will be coming together to support each other to basically pray that justice comes out of this case. people are hopeful that justice will be served, even if it takes

a long time. >> do you think the clamor, the cry has changed from the initial one, which was merely, get an arrest. that's what trayvon's parents were asking for. >> yes. >> now that that has has been done in terms of fairness and seeing the justice system play out properly, is the clamor for conviction now? >> it's definitely for conviction and for seeing george zimmerman held to the highest standard possible. second-degree murder is a very high charge. the prosecution in the case is saying that they have more evidence the public hasn't seen yet to make the charge stick. if it doesn't come to past, he might be convicted for manslaughter. >> alexis, many thanks as all. walmart, what's behind a new bribery scandal and could it seriously damage the world's biggest retailer? we'll discuss it here on "weekends with alex witt." a party?

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when the news broke this week that walmart was being accused of covering up a massive bribery scheme in mexico, it sent the company's stock tumbling as much as 8% and raised serious questions about how it was conducting its business overseas. joining me from mexico city, is the man who literally wrote the book on walmart, charles fishman, author of "the walmart effect." charles, thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> this story was broken by "the new york times" this week. when you saw it, how surprised were you? >> you know, in the last three years, walmart has opened five

stores a week every week for three years, actually in the last year, they opened seven stores a week, just in mexico. so their dom innoceninance here extraordinary. and they have this ethical code. and yet we've lived down here for eight months and it's hard to get business done. we've been curious how they manage to open five stores a week. so i was both surprised and not surprised. i was surprised because this is so out of character with walmart's normal way of doing business. and yet on some level, it's not surprising because getting things done in this country is actually a challenge. and they were greasing the skids. they were rigging the game, as it turns out. >> is it fair to say that while writing the book, you had no inclination of anything like this? >> in fact, just the opposite. most people in the u.s. will tell you that walmart is an absolutely brutal competitor.

but they're almost obsessively ethical. walmart is the company that wouldn't take a soft drink or a meal from any of its suppliers, actually handed lee scott a paperback copy of my book once when i interviewed him two years ago. and he handed me a $20 bill. so the idea that they were systematically bribing public officials from one end of mexico to the other is just completely out of character with at least their stated way of doing business and with most of what people encounter in the u.s. >> yeah. and we should reiterate these are mere allegations at this point. nothing have been proven either way. but n"the times" cites 90 cases of bribery in asia in 18 months alone. how expansive do you think this fraud potentially is?

>> well, it's going to be really interesting as the justice department and the securities and exchange commission dig in. just according to the figures "the new york times" was able to look at of the records, walmart's mexico division apparently kept meticulous recor records. walmart was paying three bribes a week in mexico every quooweek three years. 141 bribes in three years. the bribes they cited in other places are actually examples of behavior they don't approve of that they themselves uncovered. but it certainly raises the question, this is how they were behaving in mexico, how are they behaving in the rest of the latin america and how are they expanding so aggressively in china where they're not the kind of systematic controls that we're accustomed to in the u.s.? >> here's the bottom-line question for you.

as there probably many people hearing about this for the first time and maybe had plans to shop at walmart today, do you think there will be any change in pattern by consumers? >> you know, this is such disappointing behavior and so systematically disappointing that, frankly, i would hope that it would take a little bit of the shine off some of walmart's reputation. what you want is for an american company to expand and bring good ethical practices with it, not be corrupted by the way of doing business that it finds in those communities. and yet, i don't think the story has caught the popular imagination for some reason. i think people are going about their business both in mexico where public officials were widely bribed and in the u.s. and just sort of shrugging at this behavior. to me, that's a little disappointing. >> charles fishman, thank you very much for weighing in. we appreciate that. walmart has issued a response to the allegations saying in part,

walmart has been working diligently on u.s. foreign corrupt practices act with the compliance and has a rigorous process in place to quickly and aggressively manage issues like this when they arise. in the last year, we have taken a number of specific concrete actions to investigate this matter and strengthen our global fcpa compliance processes and procedures around the world. let's go to number three, disappearing sharks. a new study found reef sharks in the pacific ocean have declined by 90%. american/canadian researchers blame hunt sports fishing with shark decrease. [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters, a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done... i'm going to read one of these. i'm going to read one of these! [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 dusters extender gets into hard to reach places

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drive to put self-driving cars on the road. cadillac is developing a car it says would be semi-self-driving. general motors begins to plan selling the cars in the next few years. time now for a look at today's number ones. first up, the american lung association's ranking of cities with the worst air pollution. los angeles leads the list with the worst ozone levels. in fact, nine of the worst cities are in california. ames, iowa, has the least amount of pollution. and new york has a top score for the country's most walkable city. now to infamy on the hardwood. the bobcats ending their season with 23 straight losses and with just seven victories. the bobcats go down as the worst

team in nba history. jeremy lin has the second top selling jersey. lin beat out kobe bryant, lebron james and carmelo anthony. and lionel richie's "tuskegee" is the number one for this week. take us to the break -- ♪ and just see a policy. at aviva, we do things differently. our wellness for life program rewards you with savings just for getting a check-up, and it's only from aviva.

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every communications provider is differentit. but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company. ♪ we link people and fortune 500 companies nationwide and around the world. and we will continue to free you to do more and focus on what matters. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." this weekend marks a year since osama bin laden was killed in a nighttime raid in pakistan. now it's rising again as a campaign issue. it was a coup for president obama's foreign policy record.

i spoke with chris matthews this morning where he addressed romney's perceived foreign policy problem. >> this man has shown no interest throughout his life in foreign policy. mitt romney showed an interest in his family, his religion and making money. and that's it. he has not focused on foreign policy. he probably hasn't read a book, article on it or thought about it. he now wants to be president of the united states because that's his ambition. part of that is showing you have some interest in foreign policy, he doesn't. >> joining me is chip salzman and keith boykin. hi, guys. good to have you both. chip, the word "probably" is sprinkled throughout that clip of chris. chris doesn't know what mitt romney's read or not. but do you think he's wrong? >> do i think chris matthews wrong?

how much time do we have. >> come on, just on that one point. >> mitt romney has been a governor of a state that obviously did a lot of business with international businesses and companies. he ran the olympics. he's been very involved in foreign policy, not as much as a senator has, perhaps. but one of his close friends is benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of israel. they worked together 30 years ago. his focus as governor has been on domestic issues, jobs, the economy, etch as an investment banker, probably been dealing with international companies trying to get them to do business here in this country. >> keith, what foreign policy experience did president obama have before he was elected? >> president obama had served on the senate foreign relations committee, he traveled across the world. he had experience on working on the nuclear weapons issue. i think the president had a different background because he had that national experience and he selected joe biden who also had national experience.

mitt romney doesn't have any sort of national experience, he's never worked in washington. he's got no foreign policy experience. >> will mitt romney have to choose a vp candidate with foreign policy experience and if so, who do you think is on that list? >> i don't think necessarily he needs to do that. the focus is going to be on the jobs and the economy. and mitt romney -- some of our greatest presidents on foreign policy started out as governors. they had -- ronald reagan had no foreign policy experience. even bill clinton had no foreign policy experience. >> doesn't mitt romney's record, though, as a very successful businessman, doesn't that sort of lend him to be the expert on the economy of the coupling -- the top two pairing? >> there is absolutely no question about that. but i think he's going to choose the vice president he thinks is best to be suited as president, you're not going to see like what president obama did, going with a joe biden to talk about that. because the war was so important

back then. >> you mentioned ronald reagan before. he picked george bush has his running mate. george bush had a long history of experience. people like bill clinton also selected al gore as his running mate. i don't think that mitt romney can not be selecting someone white house foreign policy experience and be taken seriously. >> george h.w. bush, ambassador to china, guys. >> i'm sorry? >> at the end of the day, these presidents are known for their decisions, not their vice presidents' decisions. >> and as is the case with barack obama. i think that's the reason he's highlighting the osama bin laden success, pushing out gadhafi from libya, helping to foment the arab spring and ending the

war in iraq. >> keith, do you think it's ever dangerous in terms of kickback for any politician to score political points on the backs of military accomplishments? >> i think there's some danger if it goes too far. that was the big concern in 2004 when george bush tried to use 9/11 as a political weapon. but i think it's perfectfly defensible. but president obama's the one who gave the order to take out osama bin laden. he should not run away from that. >> chip, there are those who suggest that a lot of president obama's foreign policy success is due to the policies that are initiated by president bush, particularly going after osama bin laden. >> yeah, i think there's no question. i think talking about taking a little bit too much credit, my football coach told me a long time ago, when you score a touchdown, let's not spike the ball and get all the attention

on yourself. act like you've been there and there's a whole lot of other people on this field that helped you score the touchdown. >> i wish someone said that to george bush in 2004. >> we're not talking about george bush. we're talking about barack obama. >> want to make sure we have an equal standard about this. >> absolutely. >> i think somebody earlier in the show made the point about the vice president, joe biden, comment about general motors is live and osama bin laden is dead. those are the two basic themes. domestic policy and foreign policy. on each one of these, obama has done a wonderful job gooel dealing with an enormously difficult crisis he inherited. for more analysis, head to nbcpolitics.com. now to number four on our first five web story, osama bin laden's family. after being deported from

pakistan, the slain leader's three widows and children were banned from the country. we were allowed entrance into saudi arabia on humanitarian grounds. one year ago the leader was killed in pakistan. a foul ball at an arlington ballpark, a young rangers fan couldn't contain his tears after a couple seated near him got a ball that he desperately wanted. but now the couple who kept the ball are crying foul. michelle franzen joins us. >> the couple was blamed for making the 3-year-old cry. but sean leonard says he and his fiancee were caught up in the moment, enjoying their first rangers game and had no idea what was playing out in the seats right next to them. >> the little guy is crying. >> oh, my goodness. >> reporter: it was the cry seen

around the world, by everyone, that is, except sean leonard and his fiancee, shannon moore. >> i wasn't even aware that he was crying until we see the video. and then it was horrific. >> reporter: this texas couple say they have been vilified since this video went viral, showing the crowd and the nation watching as little cameron shores burst into tears at yankees/rangers game. as the moment played out, the couple celebrated and snapped photos. >> oh, my god. they can't give to it the kid? >> reporter: and the voice of the announcer weighed in. >> they're rubbing it in the kid's face. >> reporter: but leonard said he was just enjoying his first game with his bride-to-be. >> it was a beautiful day. we then have our little celebration, oblivious to what's going on. >> reporter: leonard and moore

say they were stunned by the nasty comments that followed on the internet, including this headline calling them the worst people ever. the couple who are getting married this weekend demanded an apology from kay. >> that's awful. >> not asking for anything much because he did start i. and he kept on with it. he didn't just stop at the first comment. >> reporter: on his radio show, he offered his sympathies. >> the thing that i am sorry about is that they're going through this as they go to their wedding. they weren't rubbing it in to him and they weren't taunting him at all. >> reporter: cameron's parents also went to bat for the couple. >> i don't think they were being mean or doing it on purpose. they were true fans. so they were just trying to enjoy the game as well as we were. >> reporter: and in the end, no harm, no foul. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> and little cameron ended up with a different mall that day as mom says he sleeps with it along with his baseball glove.

and sean leonard got the girl. he and shannon moore are due to get married today. >> today. oh, well, i hope they have a good wedding and put all this behind them. now number four, 1 world trade center. by monday, the steel frame of the building is expected to surpass the empire state building making it the tallest building in the city and the western hemisphere. the new tower would be 408 feet taller than the twin towers. the tallest building in the world is still in dubai.

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here's kevin tibbles' report. >> reporter: 107 years after the first olds, today in lansing, michigan, gm rolled out the last copy of the last model. named for its founder, the brand was soon dogged by its name, old. >> the young mobiles from oldsmobile. >> reporter: the car that had so much muscle in the '60s and '70s eventually lost its traction with consumers. surpassed by imports and other manufacturers in both style and appeal. story oldsmobile was there for the glory years. >> about five years after america said good-bye to the oldsmobile, general motors announced it would discontinue the pontiac brand. it's time now for "must see,

must avoid." "bridesmaids" producer is back with another romantic comedy. it's called "the five-year engagement." here's a clip. >> french vanilla with coconut custard? who thinks of that? some sort of genius. >> with or without the fruit compte? >> you're going to want that. >> i don't know why girls get so intense about all this planning. it's fun. >> kim serafin to here to tell us what to see and what to avoid at the box office. should i go see "the five-year engagement". >> this is definitely a must-see. it is from the producer of "bridesmaids."

they're definitely targeting that audience. but it does star jason siegel who definitely appeals to women but also appeals to guys for getting sarah marshall. i think this is definitely a must-see for a lot of people. i think a lot of people will like it. some said it was a little too long. but mostly great reeves. debtly a must-see. >> i want to say i spent some time with emily blunt. that is one of the nicest people on the planet. what a great girl. tough wish her all the success. >> yes. >> she's terrific. >> and a great actress. >> she really is. john cusack in "the raven"? what's the news on this one? >> this one has to be a must avoid. he has to track down a serial killer who was re-enacted his stories.

own grisly murders from his own it has that sherlock holmes theme to it but most reviewers called it a bore, grimly preposterous. it just doesn't live up to the hype. i love john cusack. you would think it just should work. but it doesn't, unfortunately. >> unfortunate to hear. how about the animated "pirates, band of misfits." it's got an all-star cast, hugh grant, salma hayek, what do you think? >> definitely a humorous. hugh grant plays the pirate captain. he's trying to win the pirate of the year award but he can't do it. it's from the same studio that brought you "wallace and grommet." broad comedy but really funny and kids will love this. >> kim, always good to see you.

thanks. >> thanks. office politics, mark halpern on the ad campaign that might best work for the president against mitt romney. [ kate ] many women may not be properly absorbing

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prescription drug takeback day. collection sites are set up across the country. and 67's the new 65. 39% of american workers say they expect to retire after age 65 and an increasing number of workers say they won't have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. it comes from a report that says if the program continues on its current path, social security will stop paying benefits in 2033. we've been asking you this, are you worried your investment in social security won't be there for your retirement? one tweet reads, social security can be permanently fixed with a raising of age or reduction of benefits by removing the $100,000 cap. another tweet says, i'm worried social security won't be there. that's why i want an account with my name on it that contains my social security investment. another tweet reads, i'm worried that politicians are negotiating

the reuse of our money and that the rules imposed in the beginning of our contract will disappear when i need it the most. another tweet reads, no, social security will be solvent within a few tweaks. i'm concerned about medicare because that entitlement is the result of our broken corrupt health care system. keep talking to me. we'll have more of your tweets later on. can the government fix the problems facing the u.s. economy or is the u.s. constitution not working anymore? unemployment is still high. many people feel that washington is unable to solve the problem of getting the economy back on track. one expert says maybe the real problem is our government. joining me is the author of "the reckoning" michael moran. glad you're here. your sentiments reflect one of those tweets. you wrote about in an article this week asking if the economy is too complicated for our government.

the u.s. constitution, is that outdated? >> well, as a template to cleave to with both hands and never, ever veer it from, it would be hard to argue that they would write it exactly the same way today with today's problems as they did then. for instance, certainly slavery would survive, we would hope. there was a variety of things that are obvious that wouldn't survive. but what i was concerned with in that blog post that you referenced is essentially that we've got ton the point where economics and global economics in particular, have such complex rules that it's not just the average voter who doesn't understand it anymore but it's the people they send to congress, the people they send to the white house, who are supposed to be thinking on their behalf. they don't have time to learn macroeconomic basics. >> what are the changes you would suggest be made?

>> it depends on how deep you want to go. one amazing one one the mid-term election. it's a disaster. first of all, we doom the house to run forever and raise money forever. they never stop raising money. thus, special interest never lose their grasp on them. the house is permanently in campaign mode. that's a terrible thing for our society. but the second thing is, by not coordinating these election, you have a mid-term where most of the country ignores it, doesn't show up. a particular aggrieved faction shows up to that one. so that one period, we end up pulling the entire country toward the interest of one faction, whether it's the tea party or if you go back to the mid-terms of george w. bush's, you have nancy pelosi's congress elected. you could make the argument that you really get a fringe that controls those election and it causes all sorts of havoc. right now, it's create add

situation where there's too much polarization to get anything done. >> how confident are you that changes can be made and implemented and that we can be more productive in our political world? >> the two questions raised in that segment just before we came on is social security and medicare. i think both are solvable. they're two to three bamroom details away from being sustainable programs. it would require means testing, people born after a certain time would get this benefit, et cetera, et cetera. they're not the kind of things that politicians are ever going to argue for in public. when two parties come together and realize the compromise is necessary, that's what happens. the republican poish party is in the grips of a civil war. it cannot do things that would be historically in its benefit. a great example, the debt ceiling last year. when obama even hinted at the idea of this grand bargain, decades of republican party

arguments said, this is it, we were right for all those decades. but they were incapable of doing it. >> it's an interesting discussion. good luck with the book. >> thank you. falling milk prices and how they could predict the state of the economy, coming up. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ [ lopez ] the red white and blue means so much to me.

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welcome to "weekends with alex witt." it's just past 1:00 here in the east and 10:00 a.m. in the west. new clues today in the search for a missing arizona girl. police have this surveillance video which has led them to search for the five people on this video. it was taken outside a club near the home of missing 6-year-old isabel celis. the three women and two men who spot add block away from the

girl's home. police want them to come forward to see if they have think details to offer the night this little girl disappeared. i'm joined now by michelle segona. thanks for joining us. let's talk about this surveillance video and the role that it may play. have police figured out who is in this tape? >> all we know right now is that there's three women, two men. they have not been identified. what they are looking is -- they're not saying they're suspects, that they're persons of interest, anything like that. but they may have clues. they were last seen leaving this area around 1:30 in the morning. it's very close to where isabel went missing. and so hopefully if you are a person or if you know those people that were coming out of the club that night, if you could just pick up the phone and give law enforcement a call. >> yeah. i'm concerned about the mexican law enforcement angle that they have to get involved in,

michelle. i'm curious, what is the current status of investigation from that front? mexican law enforcement, why are they involved? >> well, tucson is very close to the border. so investigators aren't ruling anything in or out at this point. they're keeping an open mind, an open investigation. ki tell you from being in close contact with them throughout the week, alex, that the search is scaled back but the investigative portion is still moving forward, still moving sfrong. they're still following up with all leads coming in. the family made a very emotional plea earlier this week, mom and dad. they came out -- it was heartbreaking, just pleading for someone with information to please come forward. ki tell you that the screen was, in fact, removed from her window. she was last seen when they put her to bed around 11:00 p.m. the night before.

around 8:00 a.m., she was nowhere to be found. >> michelle, thanks. we're having a little bit of technical difficulty but thank you for bringing us the gist of this and the latest on the investigation. a new battle brewing between george zimmerman and the parents of trayvon martin over the $200,000 donated to zimmerman. the family wants the court to revoke zimmerman's bond because he claimed not to have enough money. zimmerman's attorney called it an oversight. but the attorney for martin's family said zimmerman deceived the court. >> they argued and tried to paint a picture to the court that they were indigent, that they had no money, they had no access to money. and we now know that this was not true. >> zimmerman claims self-defense in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin back in february. defense secretary leon panetta's commenting on the death of osama bin laden in advance of the first anniversary of the raid on his compound.

last may, a group of u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s killed the terrorist leader after storming that compound in pakistan. the defense secretary spoke to roerts friday before heading back from a series of meetings with defense leaders in south america. >> i think the one thing all of us feel pretty good about that were involved in this operation is that as a result of what we did, america's safer. >> the secretary said killing bin laden was not a silver bullet that destroyed al qaeda. however, it has weakened the terrorist group. president obama's reelection campaign officially starts next saturday. but he appeared to be in full campaign last night. the president spoke to a group of women at the national issues conference in washington, d.c., slamming the republican party on women's health care. >> the days of male politicians controlling the health care decisions of our wives and our mothers and our daughters and our sisters, that needs to come to an end.

>> meanwhile, mitt romney spent some time friday with college students in ohio, days after president obama made visits to three universities in other key swing states. before his speech, romney met with a small group of graduating seniors. >> it's been a tough few years for people coming out of college and this year doesn't look any better than the prior years. and that's got to change because folks that can't find work in the first few years coming out of college find that over a long period of time, that really affects their long-term earning potential. so we want to get you the work and get your colleagues to work. >> joining me right now, political reporter for "slate" and msnbc contributor david weigel and nia-malika henderson. good to see you guys. >> hey, there. >> nia-malika, about these new secret service guidelines, i'm curious about the collateral damage this scandal's had on the president and his administration. >> right. i think so far, not much

collateral damage, at least not yet. there seems to be pretty much bipartisan agreement that this is a scandal -- it is a sex scandal, a behavior scandal that these new rules are set to remedy. it doesn't necessarily reflect on this administration. in some ways, what has been interesting about this scandal is it has deflected from another scandal which i do think could underscore a narrative about this president and that is the gsa scandal which involved lavish spending. they have been able to can tan a lot of the damage here. i think there could be more shoes to drop. of course we've seen a lot of investigation into this. there's a lot more investigation going on. i know reporters at my paper, "the washington post," have been all over this. those folks are getting all sorts of calls about additional information that could lead to widening of the scandal. but i think so far, there hasn't been much of a taint that the white house has gotten from this scandal. >> david, you take a hard look at the new rules, latest post

titled "go puritan or go home." tell us what you think about them. >> the new rules released there was misbehavior. there was one particular

instance of an agent trying to underpay people for services being provided. >> i want to say this, i'm not going to weigh in on whether they're going to visit houses of ill repute and that kind of things. i don't see the evidence this was a problem before. this might be one of those rules that's implemented and is not used as a reason to fire

everyone in these agencies. it's a complicated process that gets them in this -- there's a lot of p.r. involved in this, too. i don't know why that is their response to a problem like this. they want to send a loud, screaming public maesz message that this will never happen again. and i think it's a bit overboard. >> nia-malika, let's talk about the president who continues to attack republicans over the women's issues. here's a bit more of what he said at a conference last night. >> republicans in congress were going so far as to say an employer should be able to have a say in the health care decisions of its female employees. and i'm always puzzled by this. this is a party that says it prides itself on being rapidly anti-regulation. these are folks who claim to believe in freedom from government interference and meddling. but it doesn't seem to bother them when it comes to women's health. >> president obama leading among

women voters in the latest polls. how is the romney camp countering this, nia-malika? >> you've seen they have started to roll out ann romney, she was on the stump last week talking about her experiences as a mother and the issues that a lot of women face in dealing with child care and raising kids and the difficulties around that. it is hard work and real work. you have seen mitt romney roll out lines in his stump speeches about how the obama economy has negatively impacted women. but i do think they have a real uphill battle to climb at this point. that's why you see the white house not ceding any ground, really hammering this point. they have a lot of allies on this. on the hill, nancy pelosi and outside groups, planned parenthood, the national organization of women, emily's list, and they are all beating this drum about a war on women. and the republicans, they very well know that, sure, democrats have an edge historically when it comes to the women vote.

but it is going to be key to this election. and so far, mitt romney hasn't had -- it's been a piecemeal approach to closing this gap so far. one of the things he's going to do going forward is rolling out more female surrogates and try to close this gap in the next six months. >> a gap that -- do you think it can be closed, david? >> i think it will tighten a little bit. but it's an issue-based gap. democrats have a long-term plan of staging votes like on paycheck fairness, things like that. and getting in the news again, the ways that a democratic administration would benefit women in ways that a republican administration would not. it's subtle. it's not something you can quite cure with surrogates. john mccain had a female running mate in 2008. and he had one of the wider losing gaps in the most recent election cycles.

it's based on health care and social issues that when republicans get power, sometimes there are more conservatives. >> thank you both. people in southern california are shaking off a rude awakening after today's earthquake. the 4.1 tremor hit just about 8:00 a.m. local time. the quake jolted buildings as far away as downtown l.a. people tell our local station they felt a bit of trembling. so far, no major damage nor injuries reported. developing right now in washington state, police are preparing for a long and dangerous stand-off outside this. it is a remote underground bunker. it's in the woods about 30 miles east of seattle. authorities have surrounded the bunker. they believe a heavily armed survivalist is holed up there. that is 41-year-old peter keller. he is suspected of killing his

wife and daughter nearly a weem ago, then setting his north bend home on fire. police say they tracked keller to the bunker he's been building for the past eight years. authorities are bringing a hostage negotiator to the seen of the bunker. in a moment, the supreme court battle over arizona's controversial immigration law, how are the justices leaning and how could their decisions ripple across the nation? also ahead, the milk factor, how it figures in the nation's economic health. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." ...which helped students and teachers get better results in ap courses. together, they raised ap test scores 138%. just imagine our potential... ...if the other states joined them. let's raise our scores. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue...

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the u.s. supreme court will be making a decision this year in the border battle between washington and the sedate -- state of arizona. joining me to discuss the legal issues involved is professor

kenji yoshina. thanks for joining us. let's talk about the key legal issue the supreme court must resolve in this law, the issue of checking people's status. >> it didn't look for the federal government. this is basically a clash of laws issue. the question is or not arizona can enact this pretty draconian law that's so in conflict with the federal statute object subject that it has to fall. a majority of the justices seemed to believe in the oral argument on wednesday that arizona should win this one. >> what's the most draconian part of this law? fnchts somebody is arrested for speeding, then the state officials have a responsibility if there's reasonable suspicion that that person's an unauthorized alien to check them -- >> how do you define reasonable suspicion? can it be merely because somebody looks at you and you think, maybe? is that reasonable suspicion?

>> i think that's really the critical piece of this. that we're only going to see as it plays out. in fairness to arizona, i want to say that as the chief justice made clear, this case wasn't about racial profiling because this is facial challenge to the statute. racial profiling is going to come up after we allow this law to go into effect and see how it plays out on the ground. after that, we can see if there's a pattern of racial profiling. if that goes into the reasonable suspicion determination, that can be a separate law -- >> you think the justices will lean in the state of arizona's favor? >> yes, it looks like that from the oral arguments. >> i wonder what the ripple effect will be of that and how do they reconcile racial profiling. >> i don't think that they're going to reach the racial profiling issue until this is on the ground. but it is a concern in the sense that if they uphold this law, essentially that creates a template because this is a safe harbor for all other states so all other states will say, this

is not preempted by the federal statute. so we'll enact our legislation that is in lockstep with arizona's draconian measure. >> how much do you think a level of common sense plays in here? i know we're talking about the supreme court, which looks just at the lettering of things in detail. but this is arizona, the state of arizona. given its geographical placement, would there be this kind of scrutiny and maybe the allowance for the state to see this play out if it were, say, south dakota? >> that's a fair point and one of the things that paul clement led with, he was attorney for arizona, in his opening statement was, look, this is arizona. it's a really tricky issue. we can see both sides of that. on the one hand, what you say is definitely true. arizona is a border state. it has the highest proportion of unauthorized aliens coming in every year. on the other hand, we knead one federal immigration policy for all the 50 states. congress has to set the baseline against which all these issues

are going to be measured. i think the real answer here is hopefully no matter how this case comes out, congress will sit and enact legislation -- comprehensive immigration reform legislation to deal with all these issues. if congress does do that, it has the capacity -- because this is a preemption case and it is an issue of federal law conflicting with state law, the congress can step in and say, from now on going forward, you're not allowed to do this. >> i'm guessing the students at nyu law school are appreciating this conversation with you, professor. >> let's hope. in a moment, what does this home movie have with one of the greatest movies of all time? we're talking to three of the stars of this enduring classic next on "weekends with alex witt."

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"the sound of music" was first seen nearly 50 years ago. now these beloved child actors are sharing an inside look at the unforgettable film. this new book "the sound of music family scrapbook" reveals memories and behind-the-scenes video. i spoke with three of the von trapp children about the items they chose for the book. >> we just put together whatever it was that we had. our publisher helped select. we found the most meaningful piece of memorabilia to us and the funnest. i ended up contributing some letter that is meant a lot to me, letters i wrote to my dad when i was 5. >> adorable. ridiculously funny. it means a lot. neither of my parents are here anymore it was sentimental. and just funny. >> yeah.

5-year-old writing from austria. >> i wrote about cream-colored purses and do "do re mi" but wanting to be there, too. >> what about you, heather? what did you contribute? >> i was digging through drawers and stuff. i kept a diary the entire time, which was kind of fun and talked about certain things that happened. angela and i had our own little club because we loved the beatles so much. we had a club called hepalang. >> paul mccartney. >> i know. we had a book with club rules and secret -- things that were very personal. >> how about you, nicholas? >> i had my 14th birthday in the middle of the shoot. and thank heavens my mother gave me for they 14th birthday a

little 8 millimeter movie camera. so i was filming and she was filming movies along with some of the mothers of the other kids. so we had about an hour of behind-the-scenes movies of the making of "the sound of music" that no one in the world had ever seen. and us fooling around off-camera, at school, talking with julie and christopher and the director and all that. stuff the world has never seen what it looked like for those of us over there. so we have the dvd of those home movies in the book. >> it is priceless. >> and to me, that is the absolute treasure trove. >> it is. it tells the story. >> back in the day, they didn't do a behind-the-scenes -- nobody walking around with the camera recording the filming of the movie. this is the only recording of the filming of the movie that exists. >> what's great about this is that your lives intersecting in many different ways. i think one of the most funny ones is that you were kym's prom

date? what is that about, nicholas? something we need to know -- >> just to keep it exactly right, i was 14. i was young for my age -- for my group at school, for my grade. and my parents were very, very anxious about my going to the prom. and they did not want me to go with just anybody. and they were super protective. ni nicky was adorable. he had just graduated from princeton and they trusted nicky. >> they did? >> it was an honor to be asked to take my little sister to the dance. she was young for her age but one wouldn't have known that necessarily from physical appearance. >> you had to shepherd her? i was 21, she was 14. it felt very appropriate. i was honored to be asked. >> and you two had a great encounter in paris.

who knew but you and nicholas -- you guys weaved in and out of one another -- >> oh, all the time. i did a series, nicky did an episode as did angela cartwright. there's always been a new reissue of "the sound of music," a new reissue of a dvd. there's always been something to remote. >> but i have to say, it isn't just for professional reasons. weave been each other's closest friends for 47 years. >> isn't that remarkable? >> we've gone to each other's weddings, to funerals of family members. i feel that they are -- there's no one in the world that i feel closer to. >> and it's such a unique gift that you have, this family. really a gift for me to talk with them. kym karath is now hosting "bouncing back," a show about resiliency and the human spirit. she also had a charity.

in honor of her late hospital, heather menzies runs the irk foundation. and nicholas plans to spend more time here in the u.s. ahead, game change author mark halperin with his thoughts on the ad strategy president obama should be using against mitt romney. and find out about mark's midtown manhattan -- well, yeah. yeah, that's food for him. [ male announcer ] sweet. tangy. creamy. you don't often find these things in one place. maybe in vegas, if you know where to look. and us. so come on, give us a whirl. ♪ so come on, give us a whirl. (sfx: car garage sounds) today my journey brings me to charlotte, north carolina, where i spent the day with geico driver casey mears. i told him the secret to saving money on car insurance. he told me the secret to his car setup. first he adjusts... first he adjusts... (sfx:engine revving drowns out gecko's dialogue) then he...

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just past the half hour. we're getting new details on a developing story in washington state. just moments ago, authorities said they have found the body of a man inside an underground bunker in the woods outside of seattle. police were preparing for a standoff outside that bunker where they believed a heavily armed survivalist was holed up inside, the photo of that man right there. right now, they have not yet

confirmed the body is indeed that of 41-year-old peter keller. keller is suspected of killing his wife and daughter last week. police say they tracked keller to the bunker that he had been building for the past eight years. authorities were also bringing in a hostage negotiator in the event of a standoff. we'll let you know if that body indeed is confirmed to be that of peter keller once we get that information. time for today's three big money headlines, slowing down, home improvement, got milk? carmen wang ulrich is here with us. thanks for being here. >> hello, alex. >> we have new numbers to share on the growth of the u.s. economy. the gross domestic product grew at 2.2% in the first quarter of 2011. what do those numbers mean? >> right. it's a slowing down of the gdp. we've been enjoying growth since the last half of 2009, actually early 2010, we saw growth almost at 4%. things are slowing down a little bit. so the numbers are smaller than

we would like. consumer spending, however, up 2.9% compared to 2.1% the quarter before. but consumer savings is down. so we'll have to see if this is sustainable. >> okay. how about the encouraging signs we have to report on? the housing market, pending home sales are on the rise. do you think the housing market is finally turned the corner? >> until unemployment changes, until those numbers change, we may not see a ton of demand. here's what happened here. this is new home numbers. up 17%, new home sales, we have the lowest inventory of new homes, 144,000 on the market since 1963. a lot of this has to do with the fact of construction did not happen during the recession the past four years. so unless folks start moving out of their parents' house and we see more people who are forced to rent during the recession because they've lost their jobs an had to sell their home, it's not going to build the housing market tremendously. we've got to see more construction numbers and we have to see better employment before we see and loosening up of

credit, too. >> okay. what about milk prices? they're going down. when consumers go to the grocery store and see that, they're thinking, this is great for my bottom line. but on the state of the economy, it can send a different message. >> consumers want to see that. we've seen grocery prices go way up. to see milk go down 24% since september, that seems like it's a good thing. however, some economists are concerned because they see the trend that milk prices and the economy tend to go hand in hand since the great depression. so economists don't like seeing the milk greiss down. consumers love it. they went down because of surplus. all these warm months means more milk. >> the e buy it while you can. >> exactly. >> thank you very much, carmen. office politics, i'm continuing my conversation with mark halperin. "time" magazine's editor at large. he's also co-awe chuthor of "ga

change." we talk about the best ad campaign that could work for the president against mitt romney and how cool it is to have a "time" agree cover story. we started with the economy and what he's seeing on the campaign trail. >> the numbers are better in terms of consumer confidence. businesspeople are mixed. some of them believe things are better and business activity is up. not gangbusters but up. others are really worried, worried about europe, depending on what business they're in. i think if you're talking about just people who aren't business leaders but are just worried about their daily lives, i think americans are generally optimistic and generally optimistic about the medium and long term. but there's still a fair amount of concern about the short term. i think still a fair amount of uncertainty about when things will get better and how they'll

get better. and, again, on the basics of energy price, college tuition, housing prices. there's still a lot of distress, a lot of distress. and i think -- we've seen the tea party movement and the occupy movement which have put thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands into the street. but for the most part, americans are doing what we always do in times of adversity, which is carrying on with quiet determination. you don't see rioting in the streets and you don't see the kind of intense reaction that you see in some other countries when times are this tough. we still are the richest country in the world and have a high standard of living. but that's both good and bad. it's great that we handle at this time way we do. it's bad in the sense that maybe we'd have more fundamental change if people were a little bit more energized out. >> with regard to the president's campaign right now, seems like he's trying to -- or they are trying to categorize

mitt romney as both a flip-flopper and as someone who's very extreme. seems to me like those two approaches could potentially cancel each other out. do you see one as being more effective for them to stil stick with? >> i predict that the media will be obsessed with this false choice for many, many months. i think you can make both arguments. there's data to support both arguments. he's taken some positions that are not as popular as the president's positions on things like tax increases on the wealthiest. and throughout his career, he's changed a lot of positions. i think skillfully executed, there's data to support both of those lines of argument. and i think the president and others can probably make both. which is more effective? i don't know. i think probably flip-flopper. >> "time" magazine, it is a storied publication. how cool is it for you to work

for "time" magazine? what kind of entree -- doors has that opened in your life? >> totally awesome and cool. i worked in network news for a long time. i didn't want for access. "time" is incredible. the respect that the brand has around the world and here, the ability to take the fundamentals of what "time" journalism is and mathew to move to it the internet and to tablets an other devices is incredible. the real estate of our cover, on the cover "time" magazine, it's iconic and a big deal. it's such an important piece of media real estate. so i couldn't love it more. never worked in midtown before. so that's exciting to me. until i've tasted the platter on every cart within a 25-block

radius, i can't rest. i get the red, white and green sauce. one big rainbow swirl. i only get to photograph. i don't actually eat -- >> okay. i will ask you another question. when you know your name is attached to a cover article, do you sleep the night before it's put out? >> everybody here loves the cover. it's a big deal. >> my conversation with mark halperin continues at this time tomorrow with his take on the mitt romney that he has seen out on the campaign trail. take a look at this, i asked mark, dude, how can you work in this mess? he will explain that for us. coming up on the big tlooe three, republican leaders are complaining about the president's recent swing states visits and calling for an investigation. sit just another political ploy? a party? [ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high.

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today's topics, classic president, the secret service sex scandal and rules and star wars as well. let's bring in my panel, susan del percio erin mcpike and dana milbank. dana, i'll begin with you. as republicans are blasting the president right now, they're saying his trips to universities in the swing states this week were campaign events. take a listen to this. >> for the president to make a campaign issue out of this and then to travel to three battleground states and go to three large college campuses on taxpayers' money to try to make this a political issue is pathetic. >> the president was out talking about a policy issue. this is official business. and he did it effectively. >> dana, were the president's trip this is week aimed at influence policy or were these

campaign rallies? >> well, of course they were campaign rallies, alex. that's what is happening this year, nobody's creating any policies this year. the president's out there essentially campaigning. now, he's campaigning within the letter of the law. when i covered the bush white house, i looked into the same sort of thing. it's really quite flimsy. you can have the heighte esligh near of -- veneer and taxpayers pay for it. that's a perk of having air force one having the white house at your disposal to use as a campaign tool. that's just how it works. >> susan, the gop-led house passed a bill yesterday mainly on party lines preventing student loan rates from doubling in july. democrats blast the measure saying it cuts money from women's health programs. here's what speaker boehner had to say. >> people want to politicize this because it's an election

year. but do we have to fight about everything? and now we're going to have a fight over women's health. give me a break. >> do you think this issue could hurt the gop with women voters? >> to some extent. but the democrats are in a position that they can overplay their hand on this. everything can't be a war against women. and if they keep playing it that way, i think a lot of women are actually going to be turned off by that and want to go back to the basic message, which is the economy. and then the republicans can take back some of that vote. >> erin, when it comes to this debate over the student interest rates, what is the truth here and who's politicizing what? >> well, everything's really coming from the white house because as dana said, it's the power of incumbency. they get to push what they want. but i would point out at first, if you think way back to 2009, this president and this white house has done more for education policy than any president. that point was made very

strongly in 2009. they've gotten a lot of education things done. this is not out of the norm for them to push it. but it is coming in an election year. and it allows the president to reconnect with college students and over the last couple of years, he's sort of lost their fervor. there is a bit of politicizing coming out of the white house from it because, as you know, president obama went and did the late night show, jimmy fallon show, the other night. and though he was pushing a policy in front of a college audience, it also reminded me of bill clinton going on arsenio hall's show and playing his saxopho saxophone. it is a legitimate policy issue that they've been pushing for a long time. >> dana, let's move on to the next topic here, the new rules for the secret service following that sex scandal in colombia. how much collateral damage has this scandal had on the president and his administration? >> you have to love these new rules like, they can't bring foreigners into their hotel

rooms, they can't drink before going on the job and now they have to have a chaperone. sounds like a grade school field trip. this has given a lot of black eyes to the secret service. it hasn't been a politically damaging -- as a matter of substance to the white house. what it has done is taken them off message. they're talking about this, responding to this. this is sucking up the oxygen so that the president is not breaking through when he wants to be talking about women's health, when he wants to be talking about student loans and other things. it is hurting him because it's distracting from the message he's trying to get out there. >> erin, more details continue to come out. do you think this is it or is there more to come? >> i think whenever we have a republican who's looking into the democratic white house and in this case it's darryl issa and he wants to investigate more because he's looking for breaches of leadership and of security, so we will see more details come out over time, i'm sure of that.

>> what's your take on how everything's played out, susan, the past couple of weeks here? >> i agree with dana. this has been a distraction for this has been a distraction for the white house. they handled it pretty well. it hasn't come to tarnish them, at least not yet. as more facts come out and we'll see more investigation and more things will probably come out. that just keeps the president off message, which is a problem. >> sit tight, everyone. next on "the big 3," a new conservative ad makes the president's coolness an issue. [ male announcer ] this is coach parker...

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>> president of the united stazy. ♪ i'm so in love with you >> welcome back to "the big 3." "star wars." let's bring back my panel. susan, back in the 2008 election, the republicans aired that commercial, with much similar feeling like that and that featured paris hilton and britney spears. if they've done this before and failed, why do it again? >> it's a little different now. you're talking about a sitting president instead of a candidate. when he went on fallon's show, i thought it was a good move. when you see what they can turn it onto in this ad and use the president's record against him, it can be very effective. >> what does this add by the gop? >> more time and a deeper look from the public now that they

will have a nominee and it is mitt romney. mitt romney has to show why he would be better than president obama and not that president obama is bad on the economy. they get a deeper investigation from the public, but they have to show something for it, too. >> anybody thinking this might help the president with some crowds? people look at it and he looks cool and fun and hip. >> i think the democrats should be paying the republicans to run that ad. as we were just discussing, he's trying to appeal to younger voters and having these images out there. he's a fine singer. i don't think that's how they are going to win this alec. it draws a contrast with mitt romney, who with his advisors, is still talking about the soviet union and having us stuck in the 1950s. i don't see this as a direction they want to go in. >> on the flip side, look at president obama using star power in his former campaign ad with

former president clinton. >> he took the harder and the more honorable path. the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result. >> how do you all see this playing out? foreign policy, national defense have been gop strong holds traditionally. >> it's a good ad. it also shows me the president is concerned about his base. that's why he's using president clinton. right now i think while he is strong on foreign policy because he did kill osama bin laden, and he has that under his belt and that's hard to fight against. at the same time, he realizes he's having problem with his base. >> erin? >> i think it's more just a remind they are was a huge success for him. he wants people to think about that. it was a year ago the economy has not been all that much better. so he has to show people that again. >> dana, you have to hold that thought. text it to me, won't you?

thank you so much. that is a wrap of "weekends with alex witt." see you tomorrow at noon eastern from d.c. ♪ i'm making my money do more. i'm consolidating my assets. i'm not paying hidden fees or high commissions. i'm making the most of my money. and seven-dollar trades are just the start. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. and i'm loving every minute of it. [ rodger riney ] at scottrade, we give you commission-free etfs, no-fee iras and more. come see why more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade.

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